Look, I'm a 24-year old chain-smoking alcoholic grad student, and I should be too old for such things, but when I found out that there was such a thing as a LEGO store -- and that such a thing existed in Raleigh -- I pretty much came in my pants.

It's the only time in my life (other than special events) that I've had to wait in line to get into a retail store because it was so crowded. Economic recession be damned, people were buying some fucking LEGO's.

I blew a month's entertainment budget (fortunately separate from the booze budget) while there. Lesser men would be ashamed, but I walked around that place grinning like it was the first time I got to buy something from an ABC store.

Commence with mocking me, but I know that some of you just got your minds blown by this news.

5/26/2009 10:41:44 PM

so exactly how much $ are we talking here?

5/26/2009 10:43:06 PM

seriously??????

i'm there

5/26/2009 10:43:08 PM

you should meet my roommate. he's just as big of a loser as you

5/26/2009 10:43:13 PM

oh baby, this sounds awesome

5/26/2009 10:44:23 PM

Went there yesterday, was not that impressed. Can't wait to see the 8ft. Yoda they build though.

5/26/2009 10:44:54 PM

i thought they were gonna have more built stuff, like blocko-land in the simpsons episode

but it was just one star trek/whatever trooper thing

5/26/2009 10:45:08 PM

i perused there last week...was not impressed

5/26/2009 10:45:55 PM

useless without pics

5/26/2009 10:48:28 PM

Why do no places have those ginormous LEGO sculpture guess-the-number-of-pieces things anymore? Those were cool.

5/26/2009 10:49:29 PM

Quote :

"i thought they were gonna have more built stuff, like blocko-land in the simpsons episode "

I'm not sure why you'd think that, it's a store, not a goddamned theme park.

Quote :

"was not that impressed"

Eh, to each their own. It's by far the largest collection of LEGO shit for sale that I've ever seen. And since LEGOs impress me, it stands to reason that I would therefore be impressed.

5/26/2009 10:53:49 PM

I collect the Ferarri series

5/26/2009 10:54:31 PM

remember when they made that big lego ball on mythbusters, which took them like a week or some shit to make, only to crumble in seconds trying to bust the myth

5/26/2009 10:58:40 PM

^That was only like 3 weeks or so ago. But yeah, it was pretty awesome. They used 1 million legos to build it, and had trouble finding that many.

5/26/2009 11:01:59 PM

i went in there a few weeks ago and it looked bad ass. I dont even like legos and I wanted to play

5/26/2009 11:04:32 PM

it sucks they dont have prices on anything in there

5/26/2009 11:07:16 PM

ITS OPEN???

5/26/2009 11:08:29 PM

no prices? wtf

5/26/2009 11:09:07 PM

I desperately want to play with the Guggenheim lego set, but I don't know where it would go once I'm done with it

5/26/2009 11:09:42 PM

hell yea for like 3 weeks now

you know you can buy single bricks and single pieces

5/26/2009 11:09:57 PM

Quote :

"New LEGO store at Crabtree"

This is relevant to my interests.

5/26/2009 11:12:40 PM

nothing, I mean absolutly nothing had a price on it

5/26/2009 11:15:32 PM

Willy Nilly, I knew there was a chance you might be cool.

Quote :

"no prices? wtf"

They have prices on the bottom of all the boxes.

5/26/2009 11:16:38 PM

no markings on the shelves and none on the single bricks

5/26/2009 11:18:24 PM

i went in there today... i seriously wanted that VW bug model and the jeep looking Technic thing.

DAMN that place was awesome!

[Edited on May 26, 2009 at 11:19 PM. Reason : ^ single bricks are sold by the bucket. 2 sizes, as much as you can get in either one $7 and $14.]

5/26/2009 11:18:35 PM

Quote :

"no markings on the shelves and none on the single bricks"

You buy the single bricks by the cups, and the different cup sizes have prices right there on them.

It seems like you are bad at capitalism.

5/26/2009 11:19:36 PM

what did you get?

5/26/2009 11:21:06 PM

no honestly i just went in to look around. i didnt touch anything. im used to stores with big prices, in bold ink.

so i guess you are right

5/26/2009 11:21:15 PM

They need to have a manufacturing factory set up around walls of the store, like an assembly line where lego men are made alongside the machines.

I also need to go to sleep.

5/26/2009 11:21:48 PM

"is that a storm trooper made out of legos? oh it just got real in crabtree"

5/26/2009 11:24:14 PM

they are having a "lego master builder" at the mall later this week to build an 8 foot yoda!! i just want to go to see the lego master build

what an awesome job title. lol.

5/26/2009 11:25:33 PM

Quote :

"what did you get?"

I got Darth Vader's TIE fighter because I'm also a Star Wars nerd. That one's staying intact. Also another star wars one that is shortly going to be disassembled for the unique parts.

Quote :

"what an awesome job title. lol."

Now that I know there is such a thing, I regret all of my education up to this point.

[Edited on May 26, 2009 at 11:26 PM. Reason : ]

5/26/2009 11:26:12 PM

I'm more into functional legos -- not just technic, but also other creative uses of movable pieces.
Model team was cool, but I never really got into it...

Now that this store has opened, I want to get into lego art. Although, I'm not a good painter or sculptor, so I'll be doing more abstract or graphical art...









[Edited on May 26, 2009 at 11:42 PM. Reason : ]

5/26/2009 11:30:12 PM

^^me too. if only i could build lego models for a living.

5/26/2009 11:30:13 PM

^^that red one is awesome!

5/26/2009 11:42:51 PM

does anyone know if you get a employee discount if you work there?

I would so be about that

and i need a job

5/26/2009 11:43:39 PM

NPR did a recent interview on an architect turned lego designer. Cool stuff.


Is there a LEGO store in Charlotte???? DO WANT

5/26/2009 11:46:35 PM

5/26/2009 11:56:02 PM

thats a good camera angle

5/26/2009 11:57:10 PM

Pretty cool there is one in Crabtree since there really aren't a whole lot of them throughout the country. I looked around in there for a few minutes and it looks like they brought back a bunch of classic sets...I recognized a lot of them.

5/27/2009 12:22:50 AM

http://www.andrewlipson.com/escher/relativity.html

5/27/2009 12:26:16 AM

Awesome store. I took my kids there last weekend and they had a blast looking at the models and picking though the wall of loose pieces. I was a bit disappointed at the selection. I was hoping for more standard block sizes and colors. They had a lot of odd pieces but maybe they'll change them as they run out. The prices for the sets seemed on par with anywhere else but the best deals can be found on their website. I picked up a $90 Star Wars set for $30 a month ago. They are going to get even more of my money now that the store is here.

This weekend is the grand opening and they will be giving out bonuses with a $35 purchase (1st 300 people). http://stores.lego.com/en-us/Raleigh/events.aspx

I also got to touch the box for the $500 Millennium Falcon set.

5/27/2009 12:27:43 AM

They have a "four story" LEGO store in the Mall of America in Minneapolis. It's pretty cool.

5/27/2009 12:41:18 AM

They will be constructing an 8 foot tall Yoda made of Legos this weekend. You can go and help.

5/27/2009 2:07:36 AM

HEY GUYS, I THINK THEY'RE PLANNING ON MAKING A GIANT LEGO YODA AT THAT STORE SOON!

5/27/2009 2:27:24 AM

ATTN: TWW, it has come to my attention through a source that will remain anynmous at this time that the construction of a lego figure resembling that of the StarWars character, Yoda, will be taking place at said LEGO establishment.

5/27/2009 2:31:31 AM

ATTN: TWW, sex with a horse.

5/27/2009 2:36:36 AM

Quote :

"I know that some of you just got your minds blown by this news."

holy shit. must. buy. legos.


they were my childhood.


well half of it, the other half being a modular wooden train set.


and the third half being BB guns.



LEGOs, fuck yeah.

5/27/2009 3:42:56 AM

I love me some Legos. I had a fucking huge ass room when I was a kid and filled out over half of it with my Lego city at one point. Had the seaport, the police station, the airport, Pirate ship attacking, smaller brig defending, etc. etc. LOVE some Legos, just no room for them at my place.

5/27/2009 6:46:44 AM

omg sweet

5/27/2009 6:55:27 AM